Mukhtar Aimakhanov

Mukhtar Rabatovich Aymakhanov (Kazakh: Мұқтар Рабатұлы Аймаханов, born January 1, 1967 in Dzhusaly, Kazakhstan) is a Russian cosmonaut; he was originally a Kazakhstani cosmonaut.

Aimakhanov and Aidyn Aimbetov were selected as the first class of Kazakh cosmonauts in 2002, for the Kazakhstan National Space Agency, KazCosmos. They trained at Star City as cosmonauts from 2003 to 2009, until the world financial crisis indefinitely postponed the prospective Kazakhstan mission.

In 2012, to pursue his cosmonaut dreams, Aymakhanov became a Russian citizen, and gave up his Kazakhstani citizenship.

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